This new green architecture building in Charlottesville, United States, was designed by Ayers Saint Gross Architects + Planners has been awarded LEED Gold certification for Thomas Jefferson Foundation by the U.S. Green Building Council. Designed by Baltimore architects Ayers Saint Gross, The Thomas Jefferson Visitor and Smith Education Center at Monticello is a modern reinforcement of the many vernacular aspects of Jefferson’s architecture. Located in the forested hillside a quarter mile from the historic house, the visitor center exists as a village of buildings sitting lightly in the landscape, each rising one storey above the previous.

exterior facade building Thomas Jefferson Visitor and Smith Education Center at Monticello

The center’s sustainable elements include a geothermal heating and cooling system; two green roofs; the extensive use of locally sourced and sustainably produced building materials; energy-efficient elements such as double-glazed windows and louvered blinds; advanced storm water removal; water and energy conservation measures; enhanced wastewater treatment; and recycling protocols. The approximately 42,000 sq ft facility includes a ticket pavilion, orientation theater, three education classrooms, a hands-on discovery room for families, exhibition galleries, a museum shop, café and support spaces.

interior design architecture Thomas Jefferson Visitor and Smith Education Center at Monticello

The administrative campus will unite in a single location and remove some of the disparate departments of the Thomas Jefferson Foundation from current spots on the mountaintop. Less than a mile from the house and adjacent to the Foundation’s research Campus, the new structures relate to the traditional buildings of rural Piedmont. The three linked pitch-roof buildings fit into the landscape like other area farmsteads. A new zoning district, entitled ‘The Monticello Historic District’, was created as part of the development process.

exterior hallways and garden Thomas Jefferson Visitor and Smith Education Center at Monticello

Ayers Saint Gross worked with the Foundation and its consultants to create this district, the first of its kind in the nation. Ayers Saint Gross Architects + Planners were challenged with the task to comfortably accommodate 450,000 annual visitors on a site that houses the only home in the United States America dedicated as a World Heritage Site of the United Nations: Thomas Jefferson’s Monticello. Organized around a green-roof courtyard, this latest project has been awarded LEED Gold certified. To embody Jefferson’s architectural principles without overwhelming his building, the architects worked to create a visitor’s center that rests lightly upon the topography.

This entry was posted on Tuesday, March 16th, 2010 at 10:16 am and is filed under Architecture Award, Architecture Design, Green Buildings. Tags: Ayers Saint Gross, Building engineering, education center, energy conservation, energy conservation measures, Energy in the United States, energy-efficient elements, green architecture, green building, green roofs, produced building materials, Slavery in the United States, Smith Education Center, sustainable building, Thomas Jefferson Foundation, traditional buildings, U.S. Green Building Council, United Nations, United States, United States America, United States Green Building Council, Visitor and Smith Education Center, wastewater treatment. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.